Shantae
More in-depth information about Shantae is available on the Shantae Wiki. Shantae is the star of her own titular platforming video-game series produced by WayForward Technologies, and one of the latter two Extra Characters introduced to Blaster Master Zero in the Version 1.3 update on July 6, 2017. She was introduced alongside fellow modern platforming hero and Kickstarter campaign headliner Shovel Knight, who was made available the following month. For the Nintendo 3DS and Switch release, she was made available for free for one month after release, then priced at USD $1.99 afterward. She and Shovel Knight were released as paid add-ons alongside the Steam release. Appearances & Synopses ''Blaster Master Zero As with all other Extra characters, no story cutscenes are given to explain Shantae's appearance in the Underground, nor her acquisition of Sophia III (or Sophia Zero, should the player meet the requirements to access Area 9). Sophia 3rd's primary palette becomes purple and red to match Shantae's attire, but its performance is otherwise unchanged. Life Capsules are changed to Hearts, Life Ups are changed to Heart Holders, and major item pickup sound effects are changed to natively synthesized versions of ''Shantae franchise item pickup chimes. Jason's additional subweapons and the Energy Guard are turned into dummy pickups, offering no benefit to Shantae but counting towards the item completion rate. They are shaded in grayscale in the same manner as Jason's Life Ups/Energy Guard in Destroyer Mode. ''Blaster Master Zero 2 Jason will mention Shantae when discussing Level 7: WHIP as a girl that it was inspired by that can do that with her hair. Gameplay Changes Instead of using a Gun and conventional subweapons, Shantae utilizes fast whipping attacks from her prehensile ponytail, genie magic, and transformation dances for attack and mobility in both play modes. Many of these are iconic favorites from her series, with an eye toward translating their aesthetic from the concurrently-released ''Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. Furthermore in side-scrolling mode, Shantae is immune to fall damage/fall death, and may (mostly) freely use the "Call SOPHIA" button in side-scrolling mode where the "Talk with Eve" button was originally placed (as all Extra Characters can, as of the Version 1.4 update). Hair Whip Shantae's signature attack, replacing the Gun in both modes as the Y button attack. It has a short range of roughly 1.5 blocks in both modes, but can reach over/through walls to hit enemies. Rapid fire is also possible in top-down mode, with mashing the Y button repeatedly allowing Shantae to relentlessly whip in her facing direction as long as she doesn't enter the cooldown frames toward the end of an individual strike (this is more consistent when facing in a diagonal direction, as attack animations in those positions appear to have one or two fewer cooldown frames). Magic All of Shantae's Magic abilities draw from a mutual MM (Magic Meter) bar instead of having their own separate ammo counts. Picking up either Ammo or Gun Capsules in top-down mode will refill this bar (to a maximum of 100). All Magic abilities are available from the start of the game. Fireball Shoots a ball of fire that torches enemies! A simple fireball with a cost of 8 MM that fires forward from Shantae's facing direction until it hits a wall or enemy. Upon hitting an enemy, it will deal secondary burn damage, in the same manner as Jason's Flamethrower projectiles. While in flight, it will melt the ice and spike tiles found in Area 6, and it will break the blue rocks found in Area 4 upon impact with them. Storm Puff Call forth a cloud that shoots lightning bolts! An angry-looking cloud with a cost of 20 MM that persists for about five seconds, continuously shocking enemies with thunderbolts in a plus-pattern. It is not hostile to Shantae, and she may whip it in any direction desired to change its position while it's active. Unlike Jason's equivalent Turret subweapon, it will not draw enemy fire or aggro. Deploying a Storm Puff will illuminate dark areas. Scimitar Magical swords spin around Shantae that slice & dice enemies! A magic ability with a continuous MM cost that summons five scimitars to rapidly orbit Shantae at a roughly 2.5 block radius from her, rapidly dealing weak damage ticks to enemies as they attempt to pass through. MM drains at about 10 per second while they are deployed, and they may be dismissed with another tap of the A button. Dances Shantae's transformation dance system is faithfully ported from Half-Genie Hero, with each dance activated by holding the X button until the icon for the desired dance appears (excepting the Monkey Dance, as no icon is displayed), then releasing. Pressing X again while transformed reverts Shantae to human form. Monkey Dance Transform into a wall-clinging, high-jumping monkey! The only one of Shantae's dances accessible in side-scrolling mode (and conversely, the only one unavailable in top-down mode), it extends her jump height to double the norm (equaling Shovel Knight's natural jump height) and enables her to crawl up and down walls by holding the D-pad/Stick accordingly, plus jump off said walls much like Gunvolt's wall jump. She cannot attack or hold onto ladders in this form, though, and it cannot be used underwater (and is instantly reverted if Shantae falls into water, echoing her home series' rules about transformations interacting with water). Mutant Dance Turn into a cute little GX680 mutant, trudge around, and fire away! The first icon displayed when dancing in top-down mode, this dance transforms Shantae into a bold purple facsimile of the basic box enemies. While in this form, she can fire pellets in her (ambiguous) facing direction by tapping the Y button. These pellets behave similarly to Jason's Penetrator rounds, except with a considerably slower velocity and a maximum of five on-screen shots instead of two. Elephant Dance Transform into an elephant that can smash enemies and obstacles with powerful tackle attacks! The second icon displayed when dancing in top-down mode, this dance transforms Shantae into a lumbering elephant form. Pressing the Y button allows her to charge about six blocks forward, damaging enemies and breaking down cracked walls should she come in contact with one. Brainy Dance This dance doesn't make you smarter, but it DOES transform you into the boss mutant Mother Brain! The only dance not available to Shantae at the beginning of the game; she must receive it from fellow cameo character Squid Baron in Area 5 (the center shelf of the top-right room, opposite the path to the Life Up/Heart Holder). This dance transforms her into a Mother Brain, boasting a commanding top-down mode sprite size and capable of floating over pits and pools while moving. Holding the Y button in this form arrests Shantae's movement and "blooms" her brain before releasing a rapid-fire stream of brain projectiles in her facing direction, with roughly the same spread as Jason's Auto Fire rounds but no maximum travel distance. This stream can be slowly steered in the middle of firing by pressing the D-pad/arcing the Analog Stick accordingly, though turns of more than 45 degrees are better served by ceasing fire and setting back up in the new fire direction. Reciprocity in Half-Genie Hero On July 31, 2018, a final update to the Half-Genie Hero Kickstarter campaign revealed one last version update to the HGH executable, introducing the "Sophia III Dance" in Original and Hero Modes for owners on all platforms (along with the arcade-style Jammies Mode). Requiring Shantae to buy, then later trade in, the Super Revive Dance from the Snake Lady found in most stages' late levels, this dance turns her into a chibi-fied Sophia III with her head replacing the cockpit. While in this form, Shantae can fire off cannon blasts for 2 damage apiece as fast as rapid-tapping the Y (Nintendo consoles)/Square (Sony consoles)/X (XBox One) button will permit, and can angle the cannon straight up (but not diagonally) by tilting the D-pad/analog stick, but boasts no superlative mobility outside an increased horizontal movement speed (on par with the Monkey Dance's). Gallery BMZ_Ver13Splash.jpg|Shantae and Shovel Knight featured in the YouTube thumbnail for the Blaster Master Zero Version 1.3 trailer. BMZ_ShantaeWpnSelect.jpg|Shantae's Weapon Select screen in the Pause Menu. External Links Shantae and Shovel Knight introduced in the Blaster Master Zero Version 1.3 update trailer DLC announcement for Shantae and Shovel Knight on Inti Creates official site [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1236620800/shantae-half-genie-hero/posts/2249461 "Shantae Summer Surprise" Kickstarter update for Shantae: Half-Genie Hero introduces Jammies Mode, Sophia III Dance] Category:Characters Category:Blaster Master Zero